seeds

Encouraging kids to develop green thumbs is a great outdoor activity, especially for this garden loving Grandma. Recently I taught my two oldest grandchildren (1.5 and 4.8 yrs old) the fine (very simple) art of planting seeds. I filled some large pots with soil and added bamboo trellises shaped like teepees for the plantings to climb on. I chose pole beans and morning glories to plant as they are both fast growing seeds, perfect for impatient children. In fact, our seeds sprouted within a few days and in less than three weeks their tendrils had started to climb the teepees…

A few weeks after that and the beans have climbed up, around and through the teepee shaped trellis, producing purple pole beans. No sign of the morning glories yet…

Now, if I could only get the kids to eat the pole beans. Grandma certainly will…

I must admit that I have never planted purple pole beans before and did not realize they turn green when they are cooked….

You can entice children to enjoy gardening by getting them their own gloves, tools and watering can. My grandson loves the little “critters” I have on my back deck too…

Succulents are easy to grow plants, even for the novice gardener. They can be planted directly into your garden or in containers for indoors and out. In really cold climates, you may have to bring your container in for the winter.

These versatile gems also make great centerpieces for DIY decorations at weddings or showers. Recently I selected a variety of tiny ones, painted their pots pale pink, and created a centerpiece for decoration at a baby shower. As my guests left, I tucked one baby succulent into their loot (party favor) bags…

succulents as decorations

succulent centerpiece

succulent centerpiece

party favor

party favor

These versatile succulents can be purchased in pots at your local nursery, or as seeds through a seed catalogue or by clicking on the Amazon links below…

Please be sure to visit my other blogs:
Laugh out loud (LOL) with me at Your Daily Chuckle
and
Be inspired and motivated by famous words of wisdom at WoW
My gardening website can be viewed at gardens4u.ca

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This is another rant, based on a pet peeve of mine. I advise gardening clients to use mulch to keep their gardens from drying out and to help reduce weeds. The problem is, some products out there are full of weed seeds, so when I go back to check out gardens two weeks after planting them I see more weeds than were there before I planted! A dead giveaway is that each use of mulch seems to have its own species of weed, today’s was horsetail weed mixed with a coarse grass:

This is not the first time this has happened with this particular brand of mulch. I will be contacting the manufacturer of Scotts Nature Scapes to complain and will avoid this brand from now on.

Too bad, because I do like their choice of colours, and the colour does not fade in the sun like some other brands. My favourite is the dark brown as it looks like wet earth so I think the most natural looking. I also like the size of their bags, big enough but not too heavy for me to load, unload and carry from my van to my gardens.

If anyone can recommend an alternative (weed free) brand (available here in Ottawa) for me to use and recommend to my clients, please let me know! I do use a lot of mulch in a season!